Process of bleaching and thickening oils and fats.



o. SGHEMEBLB. PROESS FOR BLEACHING AND THIGKBNING OILS AND FATS. APPLIUATION FILED FEB.14, 1913.

9v??? Patented Nov. 25, 1913.

OTTO -SCI-IERIEBLE, OF ESSLINGEN, GERMANY.

PROCESS FOR BLEACHING AND THICKENING- OILS AND FATS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

ratentednov. 25,1913.

Serial No. 748,383.

Application filed February 14, 1913.

`To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OTTO SQHERIEBLE, a citizen of the German Empire, residing at Esslingen, in the Kingdom of Wurttemburg, Germany, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes for Bleaching and Thickening Oils and v'F ats; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled inthe art to which it appertains to make and use the same. n

Large quantities of bleached and thickened pure vegetable and animal oils are constantly required industrially for the manufacture of soap and varnishes and for lubricating, as such oils have many advantages over unbleached and unthickened oil, more particularly in that the bleached and thickened oil is much more effective than ordinary oil. The supply for meeting this great dcmand is however somewhat limited, as the ordinary bleaching processes only supply for the market insufficient quantities of bleached oil. In the oldest process which was for a long time the only one known the oil is exposed in fiat open vats or pans` for instance on roofs, to the direct action of the suns rays, and thereby the bleaching and thickening of the oil produced. This oxidizing process however requires many weeks and only produces insufficient quantities .of

bleached and thickened oil, becausenot only is the necessary space for arranging suliiciently large containers or vats wanting, but also the process depends too much on the weather. As, however, it has now been recognized that it is more particuarly the ultraviolet rays of sunlight which are actively effective in the oxidizing process, measures have recently been adopted for bleaching and thickening the oil by artificiaLradiation by means of electric light, the so-called uviol light, and in this way good results have been obtained. This process does not, however, meet the requirementsof practical working as regards yield, and efforts are constantly being made to discover new and more profitable bleaching processes. The use of ready formed ozone the form of ozonized air, has also not led to success in practice. I-Iowever, it has now been found that by using ozone in a nascent condition, the oxidizing process is carried out very yrapidly and smoothly. The process is best carried out by bringing the material to be bleached between the discharge surfaces and sending discharges directly through it, whereby the product to be bleached is maintained in violent agitation by means of the discharges (the so-called silent or brush discharges are the most effective), which pass through the oil in a continuous current, which allows of an extensive utilization of the nascent ozone produced, from oxygen, in the presence of the discharge, and by the discharge by reason of the constant rapid renewal of the absorbing surfaces. This hitherto unknown effect is the substantial feature of the present invention. The ordinary high potentials of 10,000-20,000 volts however yield no results, as oils and fats introduced between the discharge surfaces impede any discharge by reason of their great insulating properties. Various experiments in this direct-ion have however yielded the surprising result that high potential discharges through oils and fats are quite possible when high potentials of 50,000-100,000 volts and beyond are employed. The higher therefore the potential of the electric current and the greater its frequency the more it is possible to pass a discharge with the formation of ozone through thicker layers of oil, and the greater the quantities which can be treated in the same time.

The accompanying drawing shows, by way of example, a form of apparatus by which the process may be carried out.

Figure 1 is -a central vertical sectional view of the apparatus, and Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the same.

The material 5 to be bleached is placed in the pan 6, the bottom of which forms one electrode, connected .to the source of electricity by the conductor 7. The second electrode 8 preferably in the form of a lattice with points 9, and fed through the conductor 10 is placed a suitable distance above the material 5 so that the discharge llpacts upon the material 5.

The improved process is characterized by its great economy as compared with existing processes and the oils and fats made in this way vhave all the properties of `naturally bleached and thickened products.

- I declare that what I claim is 1. A process for bleaching and thickening oils, consisting in passing a high potential Ycurrent through the oil 1n the presence of oxygen. I

2. A process for bleaching oils or fats said process consisting in passing an electric current of a potential of as much as 50,000 Volts through the oil or fat in the presence of an atmosphere containing oxygen.

3. A process of bleaching and thickening oils, consisting-in passing electric discharges through the oil in the presence of oxygen.

4. A process for bleaching and thickening oils and fats, consisting in passing a silent 0r brush discharge through and over the oil in the presence of oxygen.

5. A process for bleaching and thickening oils and fats, consisting in passing a, silent or brush discharge through the oil in the presence of oxygen. 1

6. A process for bleaching and thickening oils and fats, consisting in passing a, silent or brush discharge over the oil in the presence` of oxygen.

In testimony whereof I aiiix mysignature, 20

in presence of two Witnesses.

OTTO SCHERIEBLE.

Witnesses KARL RLETH, ERNEST ENTENMANN. 

